We’ve been at that point in our craft beer journey when we discover the diverse selection of beers available to us, and realize, “Hey! I TOTALLY need to start building my beer cellar up!” So, the first thing we do is seek out anything that might possibly “cellar well”. Well, that’s precisely what Matt did, and now we get to enjoy the fruits of his naive excitement. The main reason Matt decided to do this was to clear out all of the 12 ounce bottles and cans that were taking up space in his cellar. These beers are mainly from the 2006-2009 era.

Hair Of The Dog beers.

We kick it off with a vertical of Fred from Hair Of The Dog Brewing Company. Jason provided two of the beers, specifically, batches 77 and 87, and Matt brought batch 70. This beer was named after acclaimed beer writer Fred Eckhardt. These beers held up very, very well, to say the least.

Hair Of The Dog and Stone Brewing Co. beers.

Next up is another brew from Hair Of The Dog, 2006 Doggie Claws. This beer is a west coast-style barley wine that’s usually released in November, and it’s a pretty heavy hitter at 11.5% ABV and 70 IBUs.

Stone Brewing Co.‘s Imperial Russian Stout is up next. Stone usually releases their IRS in 22 ounce bombers, but in 2008, they made a run of 12 ounce bottles that were exclusively for export. But, they held some bottles back and put them up for sale shortly after the release, and Matt picked up a bottle. He also brought a 22 ounce bottle of the same vintage to compare.

Oskar Blues’ Ten Fidy really stood out from the bunch. This beer is excellent fresh, and this particular batch from 2008 really held up well. Cans are really good at limiting, if not eliminating oxygen from getting into the beer, and this beer is a testament.